I booked a holiday on February 23 for four people to travel from Manchester to Chicago via Heathrow using online firm Expedia. The trip was to celebrate our golden wedding.

I was told I would receive confirmation of the hotel and flights and my e-ticket within 24 hours. After two-and-a-half days, I received an email headed ‘Book your recently saved travel plans now’ advising me to turn my saved itinerary into an actual trip.

Thinking the holiday had not been booked, I entered my Visa details once more as instructed. Two days later, I discovered I had two holidays booked. I have contacted Expedia customer support, which is in India, but it has not been at all helpful.

Though it has cancelled the hotel, it says the flights are non-refundable and my responsibility.I have written to British Airways asking for its opinion but, two weeks later, it has not replied.Mrs M. B., Barnsley, S. Yorks.

Expedia wasn’t particularly helpful
with me, either. It initially ignored emails and failed to answer the
questions I put in my calls. In fact, it has been downright
obstructive.

However, BA did much better. It quickly traced your flights and cancelled the more expensive of the two bookings.

You now have a full refund of £2,417.92.

Reading between the lines, I suspect Expedia had not processed your application for a refund properly.

A BA spokesman says: ‘We are glad the
customer has received a full refund. We hope they have a pleasant trip
and would like to congratulate them on their golden wedding.’

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So back to Expedia. The firm has
consistently failed to answer my questions about what went wrong with
your booking, why you received such confusing emails and why your
initial complaints were fobbed off.

Instead, it sent a bland statement
offering ‘sincere apologies . . . for any inconvenience caused in
processing her refund with the airline’. It added: ‘We can confirm that
together we have processed this case and granted her a gesture of
goodwill along with a full refund.

‘We have also reviewed our customer emails and have made some changes to further clarify our communications.’

That ‘goodwill gesture’ is a £75
voucher towards another Expedia trip. I told Expedia this voucher was
all but worthless because, after your experiences, you never want to use
the firm again — and I don’t blame you.

They then promised to provide a personal contact to help you use the voucher, plus a small anniversary gift.

Expedia says it has taken on board
your feedback. Your experiences underline the need for a travel
ombudsman to rein in these firms, because at the moment many seem to
feel they can treat travellers more or less as they please.

Are there limits to how much I can sell on eBay without being chased by the taxman?

I read recently that the taxman would be chasing businesses who sell on eBay for outstanding tax on their income.

Due to
redundancy/retirement last September and subsequent ill health (prostate
cancer), we are downsizing to a smaller property.

I have
been forced to sell a large collection of transport memorabilia (mainly
paperwork) built up over almost 40 years. I wanted to sell the paperwork
direct to other collectors to ensure a reasonable return on their
value.

I have
been doing this on eBay since late December last year and have kept an
individual record of each sale against which I have offset the actual
cost of postage, packing materials and eBay and PayPal fees.

To my surprise, I’ve so far made around £3,000 and I have plenty more that I could sell this way.

The items I
have were collected over many years and I would have no way of proving
when or where I bought them or how much they cost me — if anything.

Are
there limits on how much I can sell in this way? Is there anything I
need to do to ensure I do not find myself in the taxman’s grasp?C. C., Maidstone, Kent.

HMRC’s e-trader campaign is not
targeting individuals who occasionally sell a few personal possessions
to raise cash or clear out their loft.

It is interested in those who make a
living out of selling on the internet and are avoiding paying the tax
other businesses and individuals have to pay.

In short, it is after tax cheats. Much of it comes down to the motivation for selling.

A spokesman gave the example of someone selling their old military history books on the internet once a month.

In this case, HMRC would have no
interest, but if the person became involved in a ‘trade’ selling books
regularly for profit, this would be taxable self-employment income.

I double-checked with Patricia Mock,
tax director at accountant Deloitte. She says there are specific
guidelines on the e-trader campaign at hmrc.gov.uk/campaigns/emarket.htm

Work through the questions given to decide whether you’d be considered to be trading.

However, she says: ‘From what you have
said — ie that you are doing a one-off downsizing exercise in order to
move to a smaller property, rather than specifically buying items in
order to sell them — it seems more likely that HMRC will not consider
that you are trading.

‘However, this is a grey area and all the facts would need to be considered carefully before a decision is made.’

As a collector, I think you would have
a strong argument for any profits to be assessed under the capital
gains tax regime. This would let you have made a gain/profit of £10,600
in the last tax year (April 6, 2011 to April 5, 2012) without worrying
about the taxman.

Ms Mock says that if you do not have
records of what the items cost, you will need to estimate these to the
best of your knowledge for HMRC.

My £8,000 has just vanished

Our
investment accounts with Halifax disappeared from online banking while
systems were being transferred to Lloyds in April 2011. They reappeared
this March, but more than £8,000 was missing.

We visited
our branch, where a customer adviser agreed the money was missing, but
could not say where it had gone. I have phoned him to no avail.

In
addition, a direct debit for a garage I rent was cancelled without my
knowledge, resulting in much embarrassment for my wife and me. B. T., Basingstoke, Hants.

I’m pleased to be able to tell you
your money has not gone missing, even though the service you’ve received
has been severely lacking.

Your personal Guaranteed Saver Account
was closed at the Malls branch, Basingstoke, on March 30 last year. The
balance was £8,407.50.

Of this, £5,100.00 was transferred to your wife’s Isa and the remaining £3,307.50 went into your Isa Saver Online.

Halifax has sent you a statement
confirming the transaction, together with copies of forms confirming
your authorisation for these transactions.

Halifax says your initial inquiry in
branch was not dealt with properly. The member of staff concerned has
apologised, while Halifax is sending you £100 by way of apology.

The bank also apologises for
incorrectly cancelling your direct debit and has written to the company
advising them this was the bank’s error.

Halifax is monitoring your account to make sure the direct debit is paid this month and has credited you with £50.

Full marks to Halifax for resolving your complaint within 24 hours of me getting in touch.

Straight to the point

I
tried to download the Barclays PingIt app on my phone so I could send
and receive money, but I was told I could not because my phone has been
‘rooted’. What does this mean and what can I do about it? S. B., Preston, Lancs.

‘Rooting’ is when you, as a user, change the software on your mobile phone, potentially making it useless.

If you had done this, you would know
about it, so the likelihood is you haven’t. Barclays says it could be a
problem with the phone provider and suggests getting a new phone.

HTC, makers of the phone, say it’s a fault with the app. It’s a no-win situation.

Last
May, I made an online payment to the Student Loans Company of
£6,945.68, which fully repaid my loan. Yet £62 a month continues to be
taken from my wages. J. C., Peterborough.

Paying off your student loan never
seems to be easy. Your final payment did not take into account interest
from the 2010 to 2011 tax year, so additional deductions were made.

These salary deductions have stopped and a letter has been sent to you confirming the balance has been repaid in full.

How long does it take for the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to pay out if a UK bank or building society goes under? J. M., by email.

It aims to pay out the majority of
cases within seven days of a bank, building society or credit union
failing. More complex claims are paid within 20 working days.